


animal noises

by sleeponrooftops



Series: raising webhead: a parenting guide, attempted by the science boyfriends [46]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-21 22:56:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/905931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeponrooftops/pseuds/sleeponrooftops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter is turning fifteen, and he’s got a line of people waiting to surprise him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	animal noises

_One month later._

_August, 2024_

 

They’re out to dinner for his birthday when Peter finally decides to ask for a final request.  He sighs, takes a sip of water, and then looks over at his dads, trying for a smile, and Tony rolls his eyes.  “You’re worse at that than I am,” he says, and Peter makes a face at him, “What do you want?”

 

“Well, Johnny said he had a birthday surprise for me, but that it could only happen after my curfew,” he says, his smile widening at the end.

 

“Yeah, but he’s cuter than you,” Bruce says, looking over at Tony, “So he kind of gets away with it.”

 

“I am so not less cute than him,” Tony says, looking offended.

 

“No, you’re handsome, he’s cute.”

 

“I’m not cute!” Peter exclaims, matching Tony’s expression, “ _Dad_!”

 

Bruce laughs, looking between them before he settles on Peter, “How much later?”

 

“I’m not sure,” he admits, shrugging, “He said, if you guys allowed it, he wanted to pick me up at ten thirty.”

 

“Can we settle on midnight?” Bruce asks, and Peter pouts.

 

“It’s his birthday,” Tony whispers, nudging Bruce, “Just this once?”

 

“You’re worse than him,” Bruce mutters, “Alright, past midnight, but before two, okay?”

 

“That’s perfect, thank you so much,” Peter says even as he’s fishing out his phone, “I’m just gonna let him know.”  He shoots Johnny a text, _hey, superdads said past midnight was cool, but before two, that work?_

They’re getting dessert when Johnny texts back, _yeah, that’s fine, i can’t wait to see your face, it’s gonna be awesome._

Peter just grins and doesn’t respond, instead enjoys the rest of the night with his dads until they’re heading home, and then he goes into the menagerie to hang out until ten o’clock rolls around, and he can’t stand being inside anymore, so he goes up onto the roof.  He watches the night sky, dozing a little, until his phone starts ringing, and Johnny speaks before he can answer, “Get your ass down here, webhead!”

 

Peter rolls his eyes and hangs up, going back into the Tower to bid his dads goodnight and promise to be safe before he takes the elevator down.  When he gets outside, he whistles, jogging over to Johnny, where he’s standing next to a black motorcycle.  “ _Dude_ ,” he says, staring at it, “When did you get that?”

 

“Two weeks ago, but I wanted to wait to tell you so I could show it off.  Early birthday present from the rents,” he says before turning and plucking a helmet off the back.  Peter takes it, waiting for Johnny to get on before he sits behind him, looping his arms around him and grinning wildly when Johnny starts the engine.

 

He closes his eyes for the first few minutes, just letting the night air rush past him, listening to the way the bike moves, how Johnny commands it, and then he’s opening his eyes and watching the world zip by.  He doesn’t recognize the route until they’re nearly there, and, by then, he’s so excited he’s not sure he can stay in the same position for much longer.  When Johnny finally pulls into the empty parking lot, far enough away that they’re out of sight, Peter leaps off the bike, laughing and doing a little dance.  “You’re such a dork,” Johnny says, shutting down the motorcycle and holding out a hand for Peter’s helmet.

 

He hands it over and waits for Johnny to finish up before they’re making their way across the parking lot and toward the closed zoo.  “So, obviously it’s closed,” Johnny says as they’re getting close, “but I have connections.”  When Peter looks over at him, Johnny just taps his nose and shrugs.

 

They go around the side where someone is leaning against the wall, smoking, though he looks up as they approach.  “Hey Storm,” he says, pushing away from the wall, and Peter sucks in a breath at his massive size.

 

“Cage,” Johnny says in return, clapping hands with him.

 

They embrace briefly before Luke nods toward Peter, “This your friend?”

 

“Yeah, can you still get us in?”

 

“I said I could,” Luke says before turning away and reaching toward the wall.  He opens a small side entrance, holding out a hand.  “Be good,” he says as Johnny leads the way, “I still work here, matchstick.”

 

“Thanks man, I owe you,” Johnny says, and then the door is closing behind them, and Peter doesn’t care about anything but the _sounds_.

 

“Johnny,” he says softly, looking around in awe.  They’re everywhere, filling the night, and it’s the most incredible thing he’s ever experienced.  “This is so amazing.”  Peter turns, and Johnny’s watching him with a small smile, and then Peter’s beaming, stepping forward and pulling Johnny into a tight hug, squeezing him.  “Thank you,” he whispers as Johnny winds his arms around him, “This is the best birthday present ever.”

 

Johnny just hums and squeezes him back, and then they’re parting and heading deeper into the zoo.  They spend hours there, wandering around and hopping over some of the enclosures to get up close, laughing when a giraffe tries to eat Peter’s hair, and then Johnny almost falls in the alligator tank until Peter webs him back, and, as a last surprise, they go into the elephant enclosure, and Johnny convinces Peter to climb up onto the one elephant that’s still awake.  And so he sits, perched on top of the elephant, and he feels like he could just stay here forever and be content.

 

When they start making their way back through the zoo, Johnny suddenly sighs and says, “Don’t freak out.”  And then his hand slides along Peter’s, and Peter battles with himself for half a second before he flips his hand and lets Johnny tangle their fingers together.  They walk that way back to the side entrance, holding hands, and Peter refuses to admit he likes the way Johnny rubs circles into his skin with his thumb, likes the pressure of Johnny’s hand against his, and, when they get back to the motorcycle, Peter’s not sure what to expect.  The drive home is quiet because it’s so late, and they get back to the Tower just after two.

 

“Thank you so much, Johnny,” Peter says, hugging him tightly before he steps up onto the curb.

 

Johnny nods, smiles, and says, “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?  Flash said he got a killer new video game.”

 

“Sounds awesome.  Goodnight,” Peter says before he heads off toward the Tower, and he swears when he checks his watch in the elevator.  When he gets upstairs, he runs down the hall and presses his fingertips to the lock pad, waiting for Jarvis to let him in.  When he doesn’t, Peter sighs and yells through the thick glass door, “I know it’s past two, I’m sorry!  He took me to the _zoo_ , dad, and I rode an elephant!”

 

The door clicks open, and Peter pushes inside, though he shrinks back when he finds not only Bruce, but Tony, as well, both of them sitting on the sofa.  He rolls his eyes when he actually looks at them, though, and realizes he’s not in any real trouble.  Bruce is leaning against the armrest, a mug of tea in his hands, and Tony is sprawled out in his lap, head pillowed on his belly, eyelids heavy.  Peter comes in, shrugging out of his sweatshirt.  “You rode an elephant?” Bruce asks, and he nods excitedly.

 

“It was so cool.  Johnny has this friend that works there, and he let us in after hours.”

 

“You broke into the zoo?” Bruce says, shaking his head, “Peter.”

 

“We didn’t do anything bad, I promise.  Hey, is—is dad okay?” he adds, cocking his head to look at Tony’s face.  Tony stirs, blinking, and he waves when he notices Peter.

 

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Bruce says, smiling, but Peter can see the lie in it.

 

“What’s going on?” he asks, sitting on the coffee table.

 

“It’s nothing, Peter,” Bruce assures him, patting Tony on the head, “Dad’s just having a rough night.  I’m glad you’re home safe and you had a good time.  Why don’t you head off to bed so you’re not exhausted in the morning?”

 

“Okay,” Peter says slowly, standing and leaning down to hug Bruce goodnight.  He bends down to kiss Tony’s mess of hair, whispers goodnight, and then he’s off.  He goes into his room, dumps his things on his bed, and then goes into his menagerie, whispering, “Jarvis, is everything okay?”

  
“Mister Stark has been having nightmares recently, Peter.  Doctor Banner is not sure of their cause, but it is very reminiscent of what happened after the Chitauri.”

 

“What happened after the Chitauri?” Peter asks, and, when Jarvis is done, he’s not sure if he’s glad he asked or not, but he knows he needs his friends for this one.

**Author's Note:**

> I DIDN’T MEAN TO. I swear, I had a totally different idea of how this was going to end, I had the next fic all planned out, totally not related to this one, and then, damn it, Tony’s broken. I figure, though, Peter had to find out eventually, so this could be an interesting route to take for the next fic. I really wish I knew what I was doing when I wrote, it would make things a lot less complicated. 
> 
> Also, I’m sorry this took so long to get up, it’s been a hectic few days. Hopefully, I’m getting a new laptop tomorrow, so fingers crossed that actually happens and I can finally stop using this piece of shit—which, it really isn’t, but I’ve had it for three years, and it’s just so done with cooperating anymore. Anyway, don’t forget to leave your thoughts!


End file.
